I know, I know, I’m so unfashionably late to the game! Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them features a magizoologist named Newt Scamander who accidentally sets loose a briefcase filled with (yes, you guessed it) fantastic beasts in 1926 New York City. I watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on November 26 with a good friend of mine and needless to say, it was FANTASTIC. (excuse the overused pun.) I loved Newt and his whole menagerie of magical creatures.
BE WARNED: mild spoilers ahead!
Eddie Redmayne was the perfect Newt Scamander. (Okay, Eddie Redmayne is perfect. Have you seen him as Marius in Les Misérables? And Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything?) The way he cared for his magical creatures was so moving! I could really feel and see the emotion behind his actions. Personally, my favorite “beast” is Pickett the bowtruckle. When Newt reluctantly handed him over to a goblin, I swear my heart was screaming “NOOOOOOOO! DON’T. YOU. DARE. DON’T DO IT!” And the scene near the end when the magizoologist was trying to get Pickett to smile was so adorable. Shy little Pickett just made a face like are you joking my life you betrayed me!!
The other magical creatures were just as endearing. How adorable was the shiny stuff-loving Niffler? And can we talk about how the invisible little Demiguise took care of the Occamy? I was also ecstatic to see the Thunderbird make an appearance, the bird for which my Ilvermorny house is named after.
The most hilarious scene in the movie HAS to be the Erumpent mating dance in Central Park. I watched the behind the scenes clip on how it was filmed and I think I died in a fit of giggling. Eddie Redmayne is one super talented actor to be able to pull that one off!
Though the visual effects were stunning, I must admit that the plot was a bit lacking. In fact, I wasn’t even aware that there was a plot until much later because it was so slow. It was too easy to guess who the real villain was, and I wasn’t a fan of Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. But maybe that’s because I still have a mental image of Jamie Campbell Bower as a young Gellert Grindelwald from the previous Harry Potter films. Fantastic Beasts did bring back a lot of nostalgia for the wizarding world, though. I just wish ‘Muggle’ was a universal term, rather than a strictly British word for ordinary folk. America gets ‘No-Maj’ instead. Ah well.
All in all, I’d say that Fantastic Beasts was a pretty solid and enjoyable film that sets the premise for the next few movies. JK is still out there, Rowling! (hahah) I can’t wait to see what the following films have in store for us!
fragilemyths.com 
It’s true, fantastic beasts doesn’t have much of a plot… But I think that it works for the movie; I’d rather everything be simpler and more fleshed out than have be too rushed, as in the HP movies! I also think that Johnny Depp looks super weird as Grindelwald!!!! I think mostly it’s the coloring loll. BTW did you see? JKR said that Grindelwald is a Seer, like Trelawney and THAT SOUNDS SO INTERESTING!!!!
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true. I did enjoy seeing the magical creatures! It was the best part. He really does, omg, like I thought this was 1920’s? Wouldn’t Grindelwald look younger? I think it’s the weirdly spiked blond hair. and no, this is the first I’ve heard of it! AHH NOW I CAN’T WAIT MAYBE BEING A SEER IS WHY HE BECAME SO POWERFUL
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I’m just super interested to know if Grindelwald forsaw his eventual defeat by Dumbledore?!!! Like does he even knows what his prophecies mean or does is he befuddled the way Trelawney is??!!! (And same the blond hair was v. bad. Especially since Johnny Depp is a bit round now. But I thought the creepy smile was on point.)
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that’s a good point you bring up! I’m wondering the same. Maybe he even saw Harry and the rise of Voldemort? Who knows. I guess we will have to wait and see what our queen has in store for us 🙂
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